Page 54 of Gin and Bear It

But seeing Jada’s under her T-shirt makes me want to groan. They’re just hidden enough for me to want to see more.

Finally, I turn toward the sink and I hear Jada walk past me.

“Let’s pretend that didn’t happen,” she says moments later. To my relief, she’s put on a sweatshirt, but I doubt she put the bra back on under. “Excuse me.”

I step back so she can get a cup from the drying rack. I slowly come back online, finally letting the embarrassment hit me. She has breasts. I don’t need to have a mental breakdown over them. We’ve been in more compromising positions when I wake up with my hard dick against her ass.

I need to snap back to reality.

“Someone’s following me and asked about our relationship,” I say, only because it’s the first thing I can think of that doesn’t feel like just filling the air.

“I’m sorry, what?” She puts her glass down, then her phone next to it, her eyes widening.

“Yeah.” I sip my water, too. “I thought I noticed someone following us on the drive back from the party, and the same car followed me today. The guy trailed me into Sarah Jane’s and asked about us when I went back outside for a second. He doesn’t seem like the type to be a crazy fan and I don’t think he’d know about you, anyway. I feel like it might be your cousin’s doing.”

“You think Danika would send a friend to do this?” Jada frowns.

“Not a friend—maybe a private investigator. She definitely thinks that we’re faking it, but she can’t contest a will based on vibes. She needs proof and that guy could gather it.” I shrug. “At least that’s what feels right. I can text Dylan and see if anyone’s been following him or asking questions. But this feels logical to me.”

Jada narrows her eyes, then looks at a spot past my head, like she’s processing.

“Oh my god.” She snaps out of it. “I’m texting her⁠—”

“Don’t text her.” I put my hand over her phone so she can’t pick it up. “If she knows we’re onto her, she might try other ways to prove we’re lying. We just have to do couple stuff in public and let the PI go back to her with that info.”

“Fine.” Jada looks at my hand, then at my face. “So we have to go do married people stuff in public.”

She can’t mask her dread. And here I thought we were making progress toward being on the positive side of neutral, morning wood awkwardness aside.

“Yes,” I say, my tone dry. “We actually need to be fake married for the world to see.”

SIXTEEN

JADA

I’ve been looking forward to this movie double-feature ever since I heard about it. But now that I’m going with Ash, my excitement is tinged with nerves.

It feels weirdly performative, assuming that what Ash saw is right. The only reason he’s going with me is so we’ll be seen by this alleged PI.

But I…kind of just want to go on a date. With Ash.

Out of curiosity. It’s not like I have a crush on him again or anything.

Maybe it’s lust? Waking up with his big, warm body enveloping my back and very substantial cock against my ass every morning is driving me crazy. My vibrator is so loud that my shower can’t cover up the noise of it, so I’ve probably strained a few tendons trying to work the tension out in the shower.

And now we’re going to be properly hanging out. Like a real date and not just casual conversation around my apartment.

The drive-in is showing two movies, plus an intermission between them. Because it’s a drive-in, we can chat in our cars, but I’m not sure how much he’ll appreciate me snarking on the movies the whole time.

“You ready?” Ash asks as I come out into the living room. He’s on the floor with Pip, holding one of his catnip toys.

“Yep.” I grab my purse and ignore the way he looks at me, eyes skimming from my ankles to my face.

I didn’t dress to impress. At least all that much. I’m wearing a comfortable dress that hits me just above the knee and shows a little cleavage. It’s not too tight, but with my curves, nothing ever fits loosely.

He’s wearing what he usually does when he’s dressing down—jeans and a T-shirt. His clothes are high quality and fit him well. It’s subtle, but I can tell he could walk into a store and know exactly what would look good on him or how to fix what was slightly off.

Ash tosses Pip the toy and stands up, opening the door for me. He even opens the door to his car for me, probably because that creep might be watching. A paid creep, but still. I can’t believe Danika even thought to hire someone. I bet someone told her to do it. I doubt she’d think of this herself.